Tag: classic hollywood

Dramas

Chaplin

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Chaplin, 1992

When times are tough, something that keeps me going is my connection to fellow cinephiles. One way I’ve made these connections is through the terrific film zine Moviejawn, where I’ve been a contributor for the past eight years. The latest issue is all about silent cinema, and in it, I confess my secret shame: until recently, I’d never watched a Chaplin film all the way through. How is this possible, you ask? Well, turns out you can fake it pretty well if you’ve watched this week’s Cinema Sips pick, Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin (Disc/Download).

Biopics are one of my favorite film genres, and having recently eschewed political podcasts in favor of dishy celebrity memoirs, I find myself craving more insight about how great films were made, and in particular, what was happening in a star’s personal life during the process. Chaplin ticks all the boxes: talented actor who sort of looks like the celebrity he’s playing (Robert Downey Jr.), recreation of classic film sets (The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, etc.), outside forces trying to squash the star’s light (ugh, HUAC), terrific supporting cast playing real icons (Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks!!!), and laughably bad old-age makeup and hair. The best biopics understand they’re not going to squeeze everything in, so instead they attempt to paint the broad strokes of a person’s life, getting to the essence of what made them so successful. Attenborough does this incredibly well, taking us from Chaplin’s Dickensian roots in a British work house, to the vaudeville stage, to America, to California, to his exile in Switzerland, and finally, to his triumphant return at the 1972 Academy Awards ceremony. Some scenes are sped up to mimic the frame rate of the silent films they pay homage to, and this helps the movie move at a satisfying clip. We don’t need to see everything; just the highlights and a few Keystone Cops bits.

The film I discuss in the most recent issue of Moviejawn is City Lights, and given it’s my first foray into the world of Charlie Chaplin, it feels appropriate to celebrate him with the classic cocktail that bears his name. I’ll share it here for my Cinema Sips readers, because it’s also a great one to try while you’re watching Attenborough’s Chaplin.

Chaplin

1 oz Sloe Gin

1 oz Apricot Liqueur

1 oz Lime Juice

Dried lime wheel (garnish)

Combine first three ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with dried lime wheel.

I was surprised by how relevant Charlie Chaplin’s story continues to be today, along with his films. The silent comedian tackled themes of income inequality, authoritarianism, automation, immigration, xenophobia, etc., so it’s no wonder he was a target for a government hell bent on squashing anybody who dared speak out against America’s rotten core. Even more than a story of a flawed man, Chaplin is the story of a flawed country. But the one thing he knew, and the thing that Moviejawn continues to prove again and again, is how wonderfully films can unite us. Even in silence, we can hear each other calling out. Cheers!

*If you’re interested in subscribing to Moviejawn, details can be found here. I also highly recommend the spring issue’s accompanying Silence Please! vinyl record, perfect for immersing yourself in the silent cinema experience!

Classic Films · Comedies

The Women

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Women, 1939

The d-i-v-o-r-c-e train chugs along this week with one of my all-time favorite classic film comedies, George Cukor’s The Women (Disc/Download)! Featuring an entirely female cast and adapted by screenwriters Anita Loos and Jane Murfin from Clare Boothe Luce’s play, this film is an incredibly clever take on the upper echelons of New York society. From the nail salon to the Reno boardinghouse, these ladies come with sharp claws, sharper tongues, and fabulous clothes. When “Gowns and Fashion Show by Adrian” appears in the opening credits, you know you’re in for a good time.

If you’re looking for a shining example of Golden Age star-power, look no further than The Women. The entire cast reads like a who’s who of the Max Factor appointment book. Frequent Cinema Sips readers know I love a soap opera, so naturally I adore this tale of unfaithful spouses and society gossip. Norma Shearer brings a tough elegance to the character of Mary, who finds herself at the center of a cheating scandal involving her husband and a perfume counter girl (Joan Crawford), but it’s the fast-talking Rosalind Russell who gets the great lines and even greater fashions. From a blouse covered in glittery eyes to headpieces that defy gravity, she’s the one to watch. Oddly, this black & white movie is interrupted by a long Technicolor fashion show sequence, which is jarring and fantastic all at the same time. I love the clothes, I just… don’t know what they’re doing there? I probably would have cut the scene in favor of more Reno time because Mary gains a terrific group of gal pals on the train to Nevada. I wanted more time with them, more lazy days on the ranch, more Marjorie Main as the salty boardinghouse owner- just more!

As Olga the loose-lipped manicurist will attest, Jungle Red is the color for nails. I decided to make a Spritz twist on the classic Jungle Bird cocktail because it’s appropriately named, appropriately colored, and good for those hot Reno days spent waiting for Buck Winston to call. While watching The Women, I recommend drinking a Jungle Cat.

Jungle Cat

1 ½ oz Campari

¾ oz Pineapple Gum Syrup

3 oz Sparkling Wine

1 oz Soda Water

Lime Slices

Combine Campari and pineapple syrup in a shaker without ice. Shake well to combine, then pour into a glass filled with ice. Top with sparkling wine and soda water, and garnish with lime slices.

I love that this movie includes several different reasons for the Reno Divorce because it shows how complicated marriages (and their dissolutions) can be. There’s the reluctant divorce, the resigned divorce, even the aborted divorce! But in the end, I don’t even care what happens to the men in their lives- I just want these women to get the good apartment, maybe get a new Adrian gown, and most of all, get revenge. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas · Holiday Films

An Affair to Remember

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Image credit: An Affair to Remember, 1957

If, like me, you’ve run out of Douglas Sirk films to watch, yet still feel the powerful pull of the melodrama, look no further than this week’s Cinema Sips pick An Affair to Remember (Disc/Download). With its beautiful 1950s gowns, sappy dialogue (“Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories…”), and romantic cruise ship setting, Leo McCarey has picked up where Sirk left off. Just let me grab my fur stole and champagne coupe- it’s time to set sail.

Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as star-crossed lovers who randomly meet on a European voyage, this film has me yearning for the days when cruising the high seas meant high fashion and sophisticated cocktails instead of buffet lines and Legionnaire’s. Kerr’s stateroom is MASSIVE, like a perfect mid-century modern time capsule, and it’s a wonder she leaves the room at all. But of course, she must leave it if she’s going to bump into the suave Cary Grant, playing American playboy Nickie Ferrante, who has one foot down the alter and another in a starving artist’s loft. He “paints pictures” the way Rock Hudson “renovates barns” in All That Heaven Allows, but I guess it doesn’t matter what hobby you turn to when you’re that good looking. People will buy whatever it is he’s selling.

Because Nickie’s family roots are in a villa along the French Riviera, I’m bringing in some Mediterranean flavors with this festive drink. While watching An Affair to Remember, I recommend drinking a Pink Champagne Life cocktail.

Pink Champagne Life

1 oz fresh-squeezed Clementine juice

4 oz Pink Champagne

2 dashes Orange Bitters

1 Sprig Rosemary

1 Clementine peel

Add clementine juice, champagne, and bitters to a coupe, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and clementine peel.

Although parts of this movie take place at Christmas, I’ve struggled to define it as a “Christmas Movie”. I suppose if you’re looking for an excuse to drink more champagne around the holidays, you may as well pop this one in. After all, Cary always looks great near a Christmas tree. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Dinner at Eight

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Dinner at Eight, 1933

Last year around this time, I watched Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner because I thought it was a movie about people eating. Too late, I realized my mistake (I was already three drinks in before anyone even mentioned the dining room). This year, Dinner at Eight (Disc/Download) has fooled me anew, offering all the promise of a five-course meal with none of the calories. Really, after a year of pandemic weight gain, maybe that’s a good thing. I’m not sure who in Hollywood started the trend of “movies with dinner in the title that have nothing to do with dinner,” but let me just say, I am here for it every Thanksgiving. After a big meal, the last thing I want to see is more food.

There are a lot of familiar faces in this flick (Barrymores! Glenda the Good Witch!), but the true standout is Miss Jean Harlow. As soon as she appears onscreen, lounging in a silk bed eating bon-bons in the middle of the day, I am putty in her manicured hands. She takes a character that could have been a silly throwaway and turns it into the one thing that saves this movie from being too full of itself. Harlow is radiant in her satin negligees, platinum blonde hair, and hilarious facial expressions, and I find myself waiting for other actors’ scenes to end just so she’ll come back. Dinner at Eight is built around the premise of a group of upper-crust New Yorkers gathering for a dinner party, all of them hiding their own personal secrets, but the thing that sets Jean apart is she lets it all hang out. She doesn’t have time for bras, or politeness- in other words, the ideal dinner companion.

As these neurotic people navigate bankruptcy, career suicide, alcoholism, and afternoon trysts, I can’t help but think that Millicent Jordan’s bar cart better be stocked- they’ll all need a strong drink by the time a meal is actually served! Let’s toast them with this autumnal variation on a Manhattan, the Big Apple Martini.

Big Apple Martini

2 oz Applejack Brandy

½ oz Sweet Vermouth

1 oz Apple cider

Dash of Angostura Bitters

Luxardo Maraschino cherry (for garnish)

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

If you’re like me, you’ll get so wrapped up in the drama of this movie that you won’t even remember these characters are eventually supposed to break bread. As the day gets longer, and eight o’clock seems oh so far away, you start to realize that in the world of Classic Hollywood dinner parties, time doesn’t exist—it’s merely a suggestion. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

The Wizard of Oz

LizLocke2 Comments
Image Credit: The Wizard of Oz, 1939

When it comes to Halloween, Disney and Marvel usually get all the attention. True, I loved being Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and of course Ariel from The Little Mermaid (even though I had to wear a cardigan over my seashell bra), but the costume I still look back on with the most fondness was that of a warbling, bubblegum pink Glenda the Good Witch. MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (Disc/Download) is a movie I’d seen small parts of throughout the years, but rarely all the way through. Watching it again from beginning to end, I was shocked to realize A) how short it is without all the commercial breaks, and B) that I am still unable to keep my eyes open after the drowsy poppy scene. Talk about an immersive experience!

I think we can all agree that without the talent of Judy Garland, this movie would have ended up in the dustbin of history. Color film is no longer a novelty, costumes and special effects have become more realistic over time, and musical numbers have gotten more impressive. But there’s something about Judy’s innocent yet accomplished voice that gets me every time. The way she utters lines that have become classic in our lexicon (There’s no place like home…) evokes a feeling of magic that has nothing to do with munchkins, witches, or fantastical scarecrows and lions. The Wizard of Oz contains so much earnestness, you get the sense you’re watching a production made by people who truly believe in the power of movies. The silver-painted tin man didn’t need to look within himself or search for a powerful man behind the curtain—all he had to do was look around at the key grips, lighting technicians, costumers, and camera operators to see real wizardry and heart.

As mentioned before, I always fall asleep right after the poppy scene. Sorry Dorothy- your script drags a little there. To keep myself awake, I need to mix a caffeinated cocktail and wait patiently for the flying monkeys to pick the action up again. While watching The Wizard of Oz, I recommend drinking this Black Emerald cocktail, adapted from the book Celebrity Cocktails by Brian van Flandern.

Black Emerald

1 1/2 oz Vodka

1 Black Tea Bag

1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1/2 oz Lemon Juice

2 oz Club Soda

Fresh Mint Leaves

Steep tea bag in club soda for about five minutes. Add all other ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake vigorously. Add tea-infused club soda, tumble roll back and forth once, then double strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with mint.

Sometimes I wonder if Disney just couldn’t handle its main Halloween competitor and was always lurking in the shadows, waiting for a revenge opportunity. It took seventy years, but they finally had the last word as Disney World execs shut down the Great Movie Ride, robbing future generations of the opportunity to visit Munchkinland IRL. With its fake plastic flowers, colorful glitter sets, and bright yellow brick road, for five glorious minutes a group of tourists got to feel like Dorothy and Toto, dropped into a strange and magical world. Disney can keep their new Star Wars Land or Toy Story Land, or whatever lame substitution they’ve dreamed up—my home is forever with Dorothy, her ruby slippers, and a glistening pink ball coming down from the sky. Cheers!